Poison
by Archangel's Blade
Summary: Kirito was on his way home from clearing the most recent floor, Floor 98, when he is attacked and poisoned. The poison, he finds out, is a very rare kind that is incurable. His last objective is to get back to Floor 22, where Asuna currently is in their player home, to see her one more time. AU where Kirito doesn't figure out Heathcliff's identity.


A/N: So I was recently dumped by my girlfriend of six years, and I was a little down in the dumps(by which I mean I slept for 24 hours and then ate a bunch of food. You know, typical sadness stuff.) and wrote this. I was debating on whether or not to post it, because honestly I think this is the best thing I've ever written, but at the same time, it was a little too sad for me. But, as you can see it is up on FF, so I guess you know which I chose. Please note, this is completely unedited, so if you find anything that the autocorrect on my laptop missed, feel free to tell me. I might eventually edit it.

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><p>He was dying. He knew it, and yet he kept going. 'To where?' one might ask. He was going home. Home to his one true love. He had to see her one more time, at least one more time. She would be overjoyed to see him, of course, but he wasn't sure how she would react once she knew. The poison coursing through his veins caused him immense pain, but still, he trudged on, intent on seeing his love, Asuna. He finally, <em>finally<em>, reached the teleport gate and teleported to floor twenty-two, his house now less than half a mile away. People see him as he staggers slowly yet determinedly down the road and wave, recognizing the floor clearing badass that they had seen in Aincrad's daily news time after time. To their disappointment, he doesn't respond, too focused on his task to acknowledge anything else.

When he finally reaches their cabin home on the lakeside, he nearly collapses in relief. "Asuna!" he cries, falling to his knees. "Asuna!" The woman exits the home when she hears his voice, joy lighting up her face, only to see the owner of the voice kneeling on the ground, pale and shaking.

"Kirito!" she exclaims. "Oh god, what's wrong Kirito? Just tell me, I promise I'll make it better!"

"Y…you can't… Asuna. I… I'm dying. Someone poisoned me on my way here. I tried everything I have.. all my crystals and potions are gone… I just had to see you one more time, before I… before I…" he struggles to finish his sentence, but can't seem to find the right words.

"No! Kirito, you can't die! Not now, not this close to the end! We're almost out, Kirito… don't do this…" she pleads with him, collapsing onto the ground next to him. "You can't leave me! You… you p-promised me you would never leave me!" she wails. Kirito looks her directly in the eyes, and then kisses her.

"I won't leave you… not ever, I'll.. I'll always be there, with Yui, in your heart," he murmurs. "Don't leave me… I want you to be the last thing I see." She nods, and holds him close to her, foreheads touching. She cries uncontrollably, and her tears, mixed with some of his own, drip down and stain his clothes, before bursting into glittering polygons. " Don't cry, Asuna… I'm never leaving, I'm never… never…"

He can't seem to find words anymore. He stares into her eyes as his HP hits zero, and he begins to glow. "I love you, Asuna…" he says, clear and strong. He bursts into shards, and leaves Asuna alone, unable to stem the flow of tears streaming from her eyes. The only thing left behind from the glittering shards is his famed cloak. She picks it up, and without hesitation equips it. She stays there for some time, dead inside.

"I love you too, Kirito," she says. "And I'll beat this death game, once and for all, for YOU!"

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><p>AN: Yeah, pretty sad, right? Anyways, I'm working on a bunch of different stories at the moment, one of which you already know, Noble Eight(still on hiatus sadly), a story that is an AU of the last part of the first arc of SAO where it isn't revealed that Heathcliff is Kayaba, and they have to clear the game, as well as a Fire Emblem Fanfic. This is all that will be posted for a while though, because I want to get pretty far ahead on these stories so I can keep up a more regular update schedule than what those of you who read my first story, Bittersweet, experienced(by the way, I'm really sorry about that, if any of you from that are here. I'm just a slow writer).

-Archangel's Blade


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